NATION Editor Emeritus Harold Hoyte says exactly why Prime Minister David Thompson shifted Senator Haynesley Benn from the Ministry of Agriculture is a mystery.
And he argues that Chris Sinckler’s appointment as Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs is not a promotion based on any ministerial performance.
Hoyte made the comments on a Voice of Barbados call-in programme launched immediately after the ailing Barbadian leader announced he was shedding some of his portfolios and reshuffling the Cabinet.
Thompson named Benn as the new Minister of Commerce and Trade, which had been part of Dr David Estwick’s portfolio. Estwick remains in charge of Industry, but was also named Minister of Agriculture.
Hoyte said that Benn had brought “great enthusiasm” to the Ministry of Agriculture.
“I do not know what distinction Senator Benn is going to bring to commerce and trade and it is a mystery to me as to why the Prime Minister would have chosen to move him out (of agriculture),” he added.
In the reshuffle, Steve Blackett was shifted from the Ministry of Community Development and Culture to the Ministry of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Community Development, replacing Sinckler, the new Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.
“This is not a promotion for Mr Sinckler, based on any performance,” Hoyte argued.
“It is a recognition that this a young man with the political acumen to be able to give leadership to the party.”
Hoyte added: “He is going to be, I think, 42 years old (today) so it is a nice birthday gift to him to be identified, but I must also say to him that this promotion, if it is to be seen as a promotion, will attract the daggers and he must keep an eye behind him because there are those who feel that if you are going to be the anointed one, you will have to take some blows . . . ”
Hoyte made the point that Sinckler had been working to restructure the Urban Development Commission and the Rural Development Commission (RDC) under his Ministry of Social Care and had laid the basis for progress in the ministry.
Hoyte also had some advice for Estwick, the outgoing Minister of Economic Affairs, who was expected by some to be the new Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.
Commenting on reports that Estwick was angry over his new appointment, Hoyte urged him to cool off and review his situation with a level head tomorrow. (TY)